172 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
February 25. 1905. 
the danger of the seed becoming “ starched.’ they are exposed 
to the danger of destruction by field mice and rats, and also, 
if they should appear above ground, they become the victims 
of sparrows and other birds which, for want of other green- 
meat, male© a dead set upon them. The weather, though 
boisterous enough, has been mild. Little frost of any conse¬ 
quence made its appearance, and when it did come in frosty at 
night it disappeared ere morning. On one occasion there were 
five degrees in the morning. To-day (18th) is quite as stormy 
as the greater part of the past of the month. Further north 
heavy snowstorms are recorded for last week.—D. C. 
* * * 
The Food of Rooks.- Dr. Schleh, of the German Agricul¬ 
tural Society, has been making rather extensive investigations 
into the food of the common crow. About 93.7 per cent, of the 
birds contained animal food in their stomachs, and 92.2 per 
cent, of vegetable food. Some of them had between 200 and 
400 grains of corn in their stomachs, and a few had a smaller 
quantity. Some of them contained seeds of weeds. The animal 
food found in crows included mice, rats, spiders, birds, moles, 
beetles, wirewonns, and earthworms. The doctor thinks that 
the rook or crow is therefore a friend of the cultivator, and 
only do serious damage when they increase greatly in numbers, 
the recommendation being to reduce them when this occurs. 
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 
The Editor invites enquiries for reply in this column, These 
enquiries may cover any branch of gardening. Questions should be put 
j,s briefly as possible, and written on one side of the paper only; a 
separate sheet of paper should be used for each question. 
Readers are also invited to give their fellow gardeners the benefit 
of their experience by sending supplementary replies. 
Replies cannot be sent by post, even if a stamped, addressed 
enve'ope is enclosed, and the return of specimens cannot be undertaken - 
Anonymous communications are treated in the usual editorial manner. 
Address letters: The Editor, "The Gardening World,” 37 and 
£ 8 , Shoe Lane, London, E.C. 
Iris stylosa Injured. 
y laro-e plant of this early flowering Iris at the foot of a 
south wall had a fine lot of bloom, which we intended to cut 
on a certain occasion, but the flowers were much damaged by 
frost before the time. I thought this Iris was perfectly hardy. 
What is your opinion of it ? (T. D.) 
The correct name of the plant you mention is I. unguiculans. 
The plant itself is perfectly hardy in all situations and gardens 
where we have seen it grown. We do not hold the same opinion 
with regard to the flowers any more than in the case of other 
winter or early spring flowering subjects, where the blooms are 
of such size and fragile. Either the flowers had been subjected 
to drip from the roof, or, what is very likely, the sun must 
have shone out brilliantly upon them while they were still m a 
frozen condition. At the foot of wall they would be fairly well 
sheltered from wind, but in cases such .as you mention we should 
keep a good outlook on frosty mornings, so as to have the flowers 
covered up with tiffany or any other material that may come 
handy, so as to shade the flowers until the temperature has 
gradually thawed the blooms. The sudden effect of sunshine 
upon delicate flowers in a frozen condition is responsible for a 
great deal of mischief, and can be avoided. 
Taking the Angle of a Lean-to House. 
In taking the angle of the roof of a lean-to house, if the back 
wall is upright it follows that the angle made by the floor and 
wall is a right angle of 90 deg. How would you proceed to 
measure the angle at the top of the roof? (H. E. D.) 
The angle of elevation of a lean-to house should be taken from 
the front. If the roof rises directly from the ground, that is the 
point at which you can take the angle of elevation for the roof. 
If there is a front wall of some height, it must be taken from the 
point at which the roof springs away at some angle of elevation 
from the wall or eaves. With a proper instrument for ascer¬ 
taining the angles you can easily ascertain the angle of the roof 
by fixing the instrument at the base of the roof, making sure 
that it is horizontal. The angle of elevation will correspond to 
that at which the roof rises, as indicated by the instrument you 
employ. An instrument of this kind usually accompanies any 
set of drawing tools, and if you understand the principle on 
which it works there will be no difficulty in making out the angle 
of elevation. 
Raising Kochia scoparia. 
We want to raise a batch of seedlings of this plant for planting 
out in the flower garden. Is it necessary to begin early, and 
what would be a suitable temperature? (A. M. R.) 
You may sow the seeds at once if you take care to provide for 
their future growing without giving them any check. A tem¬ 
perature of 60 deg. would be sufficiently high to germinate the 
seeds, but after the seedlings are well up they should be potted 
off singly into thumb pots, placed in some position near the light 
in a cooler house, and well looked after in the matter of 
watering. When the seedlings have filled the pots with roots 
they should be shifted on into a size considerably larger, and care 
taken not to drown them by over-watering until the roots have 
taken to the fresh soil. They may or may not require another 
shift before it is time to plant them out at the end of May, but 
if you want the plants of good size you must make provision for 
encouraging a steady continuous growth until you can plant 
them out. 
Soot Water. 
Kindly say what quantities should be used for making soot 
water for border Carnations. (G. E. M.) 
There is no particular quantity which can be fixed as the l ight 
and proper thing to use. Soot varies greatly in the ingredients 
it contains, but the most valuable constituent for which it is 
noted is a small percentage of ammonia. Now the weight of 
the bulk of the soot itself would vary according to the chimneys 
from which it had been obtained, and also upon the condition 
under which the soot had been kept prior to use. It should, 
however, be kept perfectly dry until spread upon the ground 
or used in some way or other. In your particular case we should 
place about a peck of soot (7 to 8 lbs.) in a bag, and drop this 
into a tank containing 30 to 50 gallons of water. The soot itself 
should not be dropped into the tank loose, as the greater portion ' 
of it consists of carbon, which is practically of no service in your 
case. The ammonia will gradually become dissolved in the 
water, and after twenty-four hours you can water the Carna¬ 
tions with it. After filling up the tank the bag might then be 
shaken up to cause some more of the ammonia to come in contact 
with the water. At the end of a. week or ten days we presume 
all the ammonia would have become dissolved and carried away 
with the water. You could then replace the soot with a fresh 
peck in a dry state. 
Planting Cypripedium spectabile. 
Would you kindly tell me at what deptli should crowns of 
Cypripedium spectabile and O. Calceolus be planted ? I have n 
good damp spot for C. spectabile. (X. Y. Z.) 
Those who advocate deep planting no doubt refer to soils that 
are usually in a dry condition during the summer months. In 
such cases deep planting, which might be anything down to 
6in., might be advantageous in order to counteract the dry , 
condition of the soil. It is our experience, however, that 
C. spectabile planted in a dry position would not succeed at any 
depth. You speak of having a good damp spot, and provided it 
is also well shaded by trees, so that the sun will not shine upon 
the ground for any length of time each day, we should imagine 
you will succeed. In properly moist soil we should not plant 
C. spectabile at a greater depth than 2in. below the surface of 
the soil. If the soil is in suitable condition—that is, damp yet 
well drained and cool, with the plants well exposed to diffuse 
light all day, though not direct sunshine—the two species you 
name will succeed admirably. The immediate surroundings of 
the plants should not be too much enclosed, so as to provide free 
play of air and light about the plants. In selecting the position 
we should give preference to those on which the sun cannot shine 
after ten o’clock in the morning, and certainly not after mid¬ 
day. The first named is practically a bog plant, and if planted 
in a properly prepared bog bed, with plenty of moisture in the 
summer time, the crown need not be more than lin. below the 
surface. If you think that protection is necessary in winter, 
that could be done with a covering of coal ashes or cocoanut 
fibre, to be removed in spring before the crowns appear. In a 
position such as we indicate it is our experience, however, that 
no extra protection need be given. 
Chicken Manure. 
There is a well-kept chicken house here, which is swept out 
every day. There is a fine heap of manure in the dung yard. 
Is it of any particular value for garden use? (R. M.) 
The manure from any class of birds', but particularly the farm¬ 
yard fowl and pigeons, is valuable for being; rich in nitrogen. 
Tt was a mistake, however, to have it placed in the exposure of 
the dung yard, where the rainfall is allowed to wash away one 
of its most valuable manorial constituents. This manure would 
undoubtedly be of great value for many crops in the garden, and 
